BARCELONA, Spain - You may not see it at first glance, but every piece of printed material is coated - be it a sheet of paper, a label, a carton or plastic box. These print receptive coatings are clear, high-tech functional coatings that not only help to fixate the ink on a variety of substrates, but they also protect it from aesthetic and functional damage during the intended life of the graphic.

At the upcoming DSCOOP EMEA, in Barcelona, Spain, from Nov. 7-9, Ashland Performance Materials, a commercial unit of Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH), will introduce its new, comprehensive range of digital print receptive topcoats, as well as new overprint coatings designed for HP Indigo* digital printing platforms in their PurekoteTM and PureRadTM coatings product lines.

"With such a wide range of print and ink chemistry platforms available, it's no easy task to create a range of print receptive topcoats that enables films such as polyester, vinyl or biaxially-orientated polyproylene to have the same performance as paper," said Kelly Williams, global industry manager, packaging adhesives and coatings, Ashland Performance Materials. "But our commitment to the packaging, label and wide web converting segments has resulted in exciting comprehensive new product lines Purekote and PureRad coatings to fill an important growth gap in the digital market."

Because the digital printing platforms used all over the globe are different, each requires a slightly different coating profile.

"Our technical experts at Ashland had the ambition to scrutinize the needs of every major digital ink jet platform and design a coatings product that is ideal for their needs -and they succeeded," added Williams. "Ashland's water-based Purekote and PureRad topcoats are engineered to work with any inkjet printing platform. Purekote coatings provide the drying speeds, print quality, water-fastness and durability consumers need for inkjet printing on films or paper substrates."

Top performing new line of overprint varnishes for HP Indigo label printing platform

The HP Indigo printing platform is one of the most successful in the label printing market - but comes with its own challenges for the overprint varnish. "These systems use a very specific type of ink that requires a high performance varnish to ensure that the coating will bond well to the ink," explained Stuart May, director of sales, Ashland Performance Materials. "Ashland's Purekote and PureRad coatings are engineered specifically for the growing demands of HP Indigo printed labels."

"What sets our Purekote and PureRad coatings apart from other products is not just the broad range of products to meet the wide range of label applications, but also our technical and regulatory expertise and service offer that comes with it," underlined May. "As specialist in overprint coatings, we are able to get to the bottom of our customer's problems and work with them to solve even the trickiest challenges."

Ashland Performance Materials' packaging and converting division produces the coating and adhesive technologies you need - above, below and in between the substrate. Ashland's range of radiation curable, water-based, and solvent-free two-component urethanes cover a comprehensive selection of products for the packaging, converting and label markets.

Please visit our booth 306 at DSCOOP EMEA 2012 to talk to our technical experts and learn more about these exciting new products.

Ashland Performance Materials is the global leader in unsaturated polyester resins and vinyl ester resins. In addition, it provides customers with leading technologies in gelcoats, pressure-sensitive and structural adhesives, coatings and elastomers.

In more than 100 countries, the people of Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) provide the specialty chemicals, technologies and insights to help customers create new and improved products for today and sustainable solutions for tomorrow. Our chemistry is at work every day in a wide variety of markets and applications, including architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, food and beverage, personal care, pharmaceutical, tissue and towel, and water treatment. Visit www.ashland.com to see the innovations we offer through our four commercial units - Ashland Specialty Ingredients, Ashland Water Technologies, Ashland Performance Materials and Ashland Consumer Markets.

TM Registered trademark, Ashland or its subsidiaries, registered in various countries.
*Trademark owned by a third party